*******This tutoral is very old now! This is the original tutorial I wrote way back in ezboard land in 2003 (it's here for those that were on the old ezbaord (have to be logged in to see)). I have literally copied and pasted it, but had an issue with the photos (ie where the hell were they? I lost a harddrive, and they were online on my dead picture trail account, but luckily I have a random back up system and have located them!)(hence the delay Miss Panda ). Anyway, the pictures are not the best, but it really is very simple, so with the text you should be able to figure it out I think.

Back then I had never heard of anyone doing this before, but I know others have successfully followed this tutorial, so it does work for others too! More recently I was asked why on earth you would do this when you could just buy a wig base, and it is true, but back then I had no knowledge of wigs bases, and also had no idea whether I could make any sort of wig, so wanted to try with cheap stuff I had in the house. I also wanted a wig which when tied up looked like my hair as I usually have my dreads tied up and rarely wear them down. Because it worked so well and didn't require any pinning to hold it on I went on to make about 5 of these which are still in full working order now ********

I had to get rid of my extensions to be a teacher, and I needed a temporary look, and my hair is too short for falls. So I decided to go for a wig. I made about 55 pairs of double-ended dreads to begin with.

Basic wig with pony tail

Please note: this wig can only be worn tied up in a pony tail. It also needs a hairband to hide the "hairline" (see part 2 for an alternative to this)

1. First, I got a pair of tights and then cut the legs off. You might want to check they fit fairly tight to your head first, as the weight of the dreads may cause it to slip a bit if it's too loose. Although my blue wig is a bit loose, but a few (about5) well-placed grips secure it for a whole night of partying!

2. Next I sewed about two thirds of the dreads around the edge. I used the same amount of dreads as I would if i was attaching to my head, so theres about 55(fat SEs in this one) in this wig, so I put about 35-40 around the outside. You would want to adjust these numbers if you like thinner dreads.

They are stitched towards the middle for about an inch. To make one with a pony tail they should all be stitched towards one high central point, but to make one with bunches stitch towards two points, where you want the bunches to be, it will also need a parting (see below)

As they are only stitched for about an inch the direction isn't too important as most of the dread can be positioned however you like.

4. Next I sewed up the hole in the back. I don't think this stage is that necessary, in fact if you had long hair it might be advantageous to leave the hole open, as then you could tie you hair up, pull it through the hole and tie the dreads around, in a semi-fall manner

5. The remaining third of the dreads need to be sewn on as a second layer starting about 3/4 of an inch back from the hair line. Stitch them in the gap between dreads. As you only have a third, they obviously need to be evenly-ish spaced around, so as a general rule, stitch one, leave 2 gaps, stitch one etc.

They don't have to be exactly evenly spaced all the way round, so if you have two biggish gaps next to each other stitch a dread in both these places. You need to use less dreads in the second layer than the first to keep the wig head-shaped.

Originally I had intended to do a third layer, but I found two layers had enough coverage. If you want thinner dreads you may need a third layer. As with the second layer, the third layer needs less still dreads in.

6. I then just tied the dreads up into pony tail

7. Once it was tied up I attached the little front dreads by hooking them under a dread and pulling the end through the loop...but I guess you could stitch them.

Part 2 - wig with bunches

I didn't seem to have an original tute for this, so I am just knocking somehting together now, with the pictures I have available!

1. Basically it is all like the first one except it needs a parting, and doesn't need wearing with a hair band because of how the front is made. I used DEs for this one.

2. For the first layer follow steps 1-2 above, but aim your sewing of the dreads towards the position where the bunches will be tied up. Only stsitch one side of the DE, the other can then hang loose, and will disgiuse the stitched part a bit more when you tie it up.

3. To do the front with this one I just stitched one half of the DE towards the pigtail base and let the other one hang forward.

4. It needs a parting. I stitched one side of each DE to the wig base, and then left the other loose, which I then looped around each other so they ended up with both ends of a DE in the same direction, but the loose ends from 2 DEs looped round each other, again, to disguise the stitching and wig base.

I didn't have a picture of this, so I just tried to draw somehting in paint (badly!) which may help slightly... imagine the blue and pink bits are harlequin dreads (although in actuality they needn't be, and mine weren't). Stitch the blue sides, leave the pink loose, then as you bed each pink one in the direction of it's blue end cross it over with a pink, so they kind of loop round each other when where they should be.

It'll look a bit like this when it's done:

(ETA - my tute was in that ezboard thread, just hiding in the replies, this is what I wrote then about this stage, maybe between this and what I just wrote above you will understand what I mean!!!

"The parting was made by stitching two dreads side-by-side from the middle of the forehead to the back of the neck. One end was stitched towards the tying point and the other loose dread was crossed over with adjacent dread, and back again, so that both ends were tied up in the same bunch, but were looped around another dread.")

(ETA 2... I also wrote this in the original, and had forgotten about it this time:

"4. When I tied it up, I found having the loose end of the double enders made it a bit bulky, so I just tacked each loose end in place with a single stitch, which is pretty much invisible, unless you're looking for it, as it becomes absorbed by the dread.")

Thanks so much for adding the photos, even tho I could follow along with the words.

Had a go at this myself over the weekend, only using thinner dreads. It worked out okay, but there does need to be some careful arranging so there are no gaps, and the whole thing is kind of heavy. Will try adding clips to see if I can get it on my head at least once.

yay thank you hun for putting it up for me
oo quick Questions!
*will this work with thick solid dreads? as yours look softer looking.
*the single pony fall can you do the same with DE dreads or will it just look too bulky at the top? as you mentioned you need to cover it up with a head band.

In answer to question number 1, I have no idea... I have made several of these but only ever with my dreads, and my dreads are lighter than most people's. I didn't consider it wouldn't but the person above says hers slipped. Maybe natural style DEs, roving, yarn and lighter things work better?

I think that I have done one of the ponytail ones with DEs, I think it would be fine

MissAnthropik wrote:In answer to question number 1, I have no idea... I have made several of these but only ever with my dreads, and my dreads are lighter than most people's. I didn't consider it wouldn't but the person above says hers slipped. Maybe natural style DEs, roving, yarn and lighter things work better?

I think that I have done one of the ponytail ones with DEs, I think it would be fine

ah oki ^^ i'll make some fluffly dreads i love all of yours that i've seen lol

Kittycat wrote:Question! Isn't it a bit heavy? I mean, that there's a risk of that the wig may fall of? It would be quite embarrassing actually. I'm guessing clips to keep it on it's place?

Well before going out anywhere with fake hair on I would shake my head around a lot and jump up and down and such to make sure it felt secure and wasn't going to fall off! I will take no responsibility for people who fail to check their own fake hair is secured appropriately to their head and subsequently suffer from embarrassment!

But anyway, no, mine have never fallen off. If you make really heavy dreads and put loads on then maybe...

One of the key features of tights is the denier. By definition, denier is a unit of weight used for determining the fineness or thickness of the tights. The lower the denier value, the more fragile and sheer the tights are.